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From the bestselling author of Tripping the Prom Queen comes a fascinating and provocative look at the reasons behind female deception. Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets reveals how society doles out mixed messages to women, fostering the lies they tell. Among the liars are:

•A woman who shoplifts, and has it “down to a science”

•A woman who tells her husband she is working late in order to be with her lover

•A woman who lies about her children’s achievements to her friends

•A woman who pretends her husband is doing well when they are going broke

•A woman who has covered up her husband’s emotional abuse for years

•A woman whose secret is her misery in being a stay-at-home mom in suburbia

•A woman who lies about loving her partner, deciding it’s better to stay than be alone

•And many other secrets and deceptions

Honest and even outrageous, Susan Shapiro Barash is fast becoming the author who explores issues that are important to women—issues that they are loath to talk about . . . until now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Do women have to lie to survive at work, in school, in our marriages, friendships, and families? The honest answer is a shocking yes.”—Leslie Morgan Steiner, editor of the bestselling Mommy Wars

"Susan Shapiro Barash has "taken a gutsy look at a controversial subject, one that most women would rather not discuss. By shedding light on the reasons behind our secrets and lies, she will give women more choices about how they approach the sensitive areas of their lives.”--Liz Perle, author of Money, A Memoir

“Finally! The lies women tell have been de-coded. Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets: The Truth About Women and Deception has taken me on an eye opening journey into the lies my own mother told me as a child making me realize the most innocent of untruths can have a lifelong impact.”--Crystal McCrary Anthony, author of The Gotham Diaries

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

SUSAN SHAPIRO BARASH is the author of nine previous books, and teaches gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College. As a well-recognized gender expert, she is frequently sought out by newspapers, television shows, and radio programs to comment on women’s issues. She lives in New York City.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I spent about 90 minutes poring over this book and learned that the writer has basically written a book by asking women on Criaglist to talk about their patterns of deception. There is no evidence that the writer met anyone in person, and the preface says that the writer "combined sources" or something of the sort. The book is about 30 per cent email transcripts, as far as I can tell.

The interesting thing is the amorality of the writer and the female deceivers. They all have an excuse for telling white lies and creating worse deceptions.

Most interesting to me, as a man, was reading about the culture of female lying. As a window into an alien culture, this book is as useful as "Odd Girl Out" by Rachel Simmons. This book profiles women who are proud to lie, feel good by lying, feel like they have tricked the system by lying, and look down upon simpletons who won't lie. For a man who tries to speak the truth, this is a visit to an alien world. I feel like a bird gone down to live among the catfish in the murk at the bottom of a polluted stream. I do not want to live here, but it's interesting to see that indeed an awful form of life lives down here.

The writer's amorality is distressing, too. She seems to have no serious sense of what lying does over time to a human being, even a female. The internal corruption and loss of contact with reality...that results from lying and kidding yourself about your own lies...is a very high price to pay for "success." The author seems not to think it matters much. The author accepts the premise of her subjects, which is that "lying is a pretty good technique for advancement" and that the corruption of one's spirit through lying is no big deal.

No one is sugar and spice and everything nice. Men lie, women lie. This book courageously reveals not only that women commonly lie but why they do it ,and why most of them are good at it. A good look into human nature and conditioning. My father used to say" Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see". I wish he could have stuck around the planet longer because you certainly cannot discuss people delusions. especially women's.

Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets is a nonjudgmental research projectabout a topic that's all too familiar to all of us. Barash's intervieweesvary in ages and social classes, and may live miles from one another,but each has found a reason to lie to a family member, friend or work colleague. I found this fascinating because it's all too true and because women do it to save face and to make their lives better. Men should read the book to get the low down and women to recognize themselves and not feel alone.